Coal handling system



May 24, 1949. E. RAMSAY COAL HANDLING SYSTEM Filed 001;. so. 1944' 2Sheets-Sheet 1 'EREKIN E RAMEAY I IN VEN TOR.

BY fi ATTURNEY May 24, 1949. E. RAMSAY COAL HANDLING SYSTEM Filed Oct.30, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,EREKINE RAMSAY INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented May 24, 1949 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE COAL HANDLINGSYSTEM Erskine Ramsay, Birmingham, Ala.

Application October 30, 1944, Serial No. 560,930

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a mine haulage system in which an endlesscable is employed to haul mine cars into and out of a mine, which carsengage the cable with a detachable grab, and has for an object theprovision of apparatus of the character designated which shall beespecially adapted to pull cars through a rotary dump through which thecable also passes and which is adapted to dump the cars while inlongitudinal action.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mine haulage systemincluding an endless cable, tracks, and mine cars on the tracks, withdetachable grabs adapted to engage the cable, to gether with a sheaveincluded in the drive means and adapted to engage the grab and haul thecars around a track disposed beneath the sheave.

Mine haulage systems have heretofore been proposed in which an endlesscable was run over parallel tracks in a mine tunnel or slope and inwhich the cars engaged the cable with detachable grabs mounted on theends of the cars. All such apparatus with which I am familiar entailedfrequent starting and stopping of the drive means for the cable, and fordetaching the loaded cars as they came out of the mine for passagethrough the rotary dump. This necessitated the employment ofconsiderable manual labor for placing the cars in the rotary dump andremoving them therefrom, and afterwards for re-engaging them with thecable.

In accordance with my present invention, I employ the endless cable andthe parallel tracks in the mine, and include in the driving means forthe cable, a relatively large sheave at the head of the tipple beneathand around which the track runs, and provide means associated with thesheave for engaging the mine car grabs and carrying them around thetrack and the sheave. I also provide a rotary dump through which theendless cable passes, which rotary dump is adapted to dump the cars andright them while they are still in motion longitudinally through thedump. By the means employed, there is no necessity of uncoupling thecars from the cable in order to dump them, and accordingly they arehauled out of the mine, dumped, and returned empty into the mine Withoutever becoming uncoupled from the cable.

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are plan views of a mine having my improved systeminstalled therein;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1 anddrawn to a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the drive sheave for the cable;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the means for disengaging cargrabs from cable in the mine;

Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the manner of mounting a grab on the endof a car; and,

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view taken at a right angle to Fig. '7.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of myinvention, I show diagrammatically in Fig. 1 a mine working embodying aslope or tunnel l0, emerging from beneath the ground at Ii, and outsidethe slope or tunnel a tipple l2. At the lower end of the slope or tunnelit, drifts may branch off to portions of the mine being worked. It willbe understood of course that the showing just described is merellyillustrative of a mine working to which my improved hauling system maybe applied and that it is adaptable for various other workings. Withinthe slope or tunnel it are parallel tracks I6 and H upon which mine cars13 are adapted to run. The cars It are hauled out of, and returned into,the mine by means of an endless cable l9 which passes around a drivesheave 2| at the head of the tipple l2, and around an idler sheave 22 atthe innermost end of the slope or tunnel Ill. The drifts i 3 and It mayalso be provided with parallel tracks and with separate, endless cables23 and 24, each separately driven as by means of a motor 26, and drivesheave 21, operatively connected to the motor 25, as by means of a drivebelt 28. i

The cars It are detachably connected to the cable H) by means of a grab29 which is pivotally mounted at 3| on the ends of each of the cars andwhich includes an arm 32 extending laterally and terminating in anupwardly opening V shape bend or notch 33. The pivotal mounting 3| includes a sleeve 30 which serves as a bearing for the lower end of thegrab 29. See Figs. 7 and 8. The sleeve 30 is also mounted to rotate in avertical plane by means of a bolt 35 which secures it to the end of thecar. The grab is held in an upright position by means of a springpressed latch 35'. By this means, the grabs may be turned down anddetached cars pushed into position for loading where there is a minimumof head room. The cable I9 rests in the V-shaped notch 33 by gravity,and the notch being ofiset from the pivotal mounting 3| by reason of thelateral arm 32, grips the cable IS with a frictional grip varying withthe resistance to the pull on the cable. At the lower end of the slopeor tunnel 16, near the idler sheave 22, I provide a pulley 34, overwhich the cable 19 is adapted to run and which raises the cable out ofthe notch 33 and disengages it from each car 18 as it approaches thelower end of the tunnel whereupon the detached cars are again loaded andhooked onto the cable. See Fig. 6. If desired, pulleys such as 34,disposed to raise the cable 19 out of the notches 38, may be placed inthe tunnel at various points where it is desired to disengage oruncouple the cars from the cable. For example, it is desirable that carebe disconnected from the cable in order that they may be run into theside workings represented by the drifts l3 and I4. Accordingly, a pulley34 should be located at each point along the cable H! where it may bedesired to uncouple the cars.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 4, the drive sheave 25 is supportedby a suitable structure, such as the reinforced concrete foundation 49shown in Fig. 1. It comprises a sheave portion proper 52, in which thecable I9 runs. As shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, the sheaveportion 52 is provided around its periphery with a double row of fingers53 and 53', forming angular notches between the rows and between theteeth in a row. The cable 19 runs in the notch between the rows and thegrabs 29 enter the notches between the teeth in the rows. The cars arethus hauled around the head end of the tipple,

beneath the drive sheave 2!, where the tracks 16 and il join. As shownin Figs. 4 and 5, the fingers 53 are provided with rounded ends and areformed with relatively widely diverging angles 5-4, whereby the grabs 29which are round in cross section are caused to enter the notches andretain their grips on the cable 19. If a grab should engage the roundedends of the teeth 53 and 53, they would cause it to slip on the cable19, a sufficient amount to enter the adjacent notch.

Except as otherwise specified herein, car dumps suitable for use with mypresent invention are constructed and operated in a manner similar tothe car dump shown in my prior Patent No. 1,787,762, dated January 6,1931. Reference is accordingly made to said patent for their details ofconstruction and manner of operation.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improvedmine haulage system by means of which the products of a mine may beeconomically removed and disposed of in a minimum of time and with aminimum of labor. It will furthermore be apparent that this improvedsystem embodies an improved cable driving and car dumping mechanismwhich obviates the necessity of uncoupling the cars from the cable asthey are brought out of the mine.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a mine haulage system including an endless cable, mine cars' withdetachable grabs adapted to engage the cable at random, and drive meansfor the cable, the combination of a sheave included in the drive meansand havin spaced fingers thereon shaped to engage and cause the grabs toenter into the spaces between the fingers, and a track for the carspassing around beneath the sheave.

2. In a mine haulage system including an endless cable and driving meansfor said cable, a plurality of mine cars disposed at random along thecable, a grab pivotally mounted with a vertical pivot to projectupwardly from the car and having a notch adapted to engage the endlesscable and disposed on one side of its pivot, a drive sheave included inthe driving means for the endless cable, diverging fingers on the sheaveadapted to engage the grabs on the cars and shaped to cause the grabs toenter into the notches between the fingers, and tracks for the carsextending around beneath the sheave.

3. In a mine haulage system including an endless cable, mine carsadapted to be hauled by the cable and drive means for the cable,detachable grabs each comprising a crank arm rounded in cross sectionmounted centrally of the end of each car for full rotary movement abouta vertical axis with one end free and formed into an open notch disposedto one side of its axis of rotation and adapted to engage the cable atrandom, a drive sheave about Which the cable passes, and roundeddivergent teeth on the sheave for engaging the notched ends of the grabsand hauling the cars around with the cable, and causing the grabs toenter the notches between the teeth.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which the grabs have their endsmounted on the car to rotate in a horizontal plane and also in avertical plane whereby they may be turned out of the way of the cablewhen the car is stopped.

. ERSKINE RAMSAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 539,063 Lauenroth May 14, 1895935,586 Case Sept. 28, 1909 946,747 Webb Jan. 18, 1910 1,173,245 BatesFeb. 29, 1916 1,274,488 Wood Aug. 6, 1918 1,325,536 Ramsay Dec. 23, 19191,556,819 Hires Oct. 13, 1924 1,787,762 Ramsay Jan. 6, 1931 1,831,634Pedersen et al. Nov. 10, 1931 2,263,504 Krueger Nov. 18, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 167,380 Great Britain Aug. 11, 1921 343,059Germany Oct. 25, 1921 355,238 Germany June 23, 1922 485,277 Germany Oct.28, 1929

